Industrial apparatus



July 4, 1961 H. F. NOWlCKl ET AL INDUSTRIAL APPARATUS 3 SheetsSheet 1Filed March 12, 1958 YARN FEED CONTROL FIGL SELECTOR MECH.

INVENTORS: HENRY F. NOWICKI Esau; QA M 'YZ July 4, 1961 H. F. NOWICKIETAL INDUSTRIAL APPARATUS Filed March 12, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet? FIG. IO.90 9/ 9/ 7 92 92 95 95 95 w x M L9 W aw W A FIG. 3.

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y 1961 H. F. NQWlCKl ETAL INDUSTRIAL APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FiledMarch 12, 1958 ma m3 ma F I615.

INVENTORS HENRY E NOWICKI FRANK QUINNELL JOHN E. SMITg ATTY.

United States Patent 2,990,792 INDUSTRIAL APPARATUS Henry F. Nowicki,Norristown, Frank Quinnell, Abington, and John Smith, Norristown, Pa.,assignors to James Lees and Sons "Company, Bridgeport, Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvania Filed Mar. 12, 1958, Ser. No. 721,041 12Claims. (Cl. l l2 -79) This invention relates to method and apparatusfor simultaneously and/or selectively producing cut and un tcut pile ina tufted pile fabric .such as a floor covering.

Since the introduction and increased acceptance of tufted rugs andcarpets, efforts have been made to produce such a fabric having both cutand uncut pile without the necessity :of passing the fabric through atufting machine more than once. Because the loopers for producing uncutpile are differently shaped and face in the opposite direction than theloopers for producing the cut pile, no easy solution for this problemhas been proposed. Tufted fabrics having cut and uncut pile but all produced with non-cutting loopers are disclosed and claimed in copendingThomas T. J-anney and Adolph Klein application Serial No. 497,534 andcopending Henry F. Nowicki application Serial No. 639,042, now PatentNos. 2,876,525 and 2,884,680, respectively, which are illustrative ofthe development of the above desired fabric and method. It may hepointed out that while there are some advantages in a shearing operationto produce cut tufts in accordance with the teaching of the aboveapplications, there are .at least two very serious disadvantages;namely, the cost involved in running the fabric through an entirelyseparate apparatus which in turn require-s maintenance, extra handling,etc.; second, there is a substantial waste in the expensive pile yarnssince all the yarn which is sheared from the fabric .is a total loss.The present invention completely overcomes these two disadvantages.

The present invention contemplates a tufting machine having a doublelooper arrangement operatively associated with a single set of tuftingneedles. Two separate pile yarn ends are stitched into the fabric eitherthrough a single eye or double eyes in each needle and the looper orloopers cooperate with the yarns .fed to single needles to selectivelyform cut or uncut pile with one yarn and controllable height uncut pileprojections with the other yarn. .In a preferred form of the inventionthe loopers have oppositely facing bills and are actuated in timedrelation to each other to simultaneously engage yarn ends'threadedthrough separate eyes on each needle. In another form of the invention asingle looper is provided with two bills one of which controls the cutpile and the other the uncut pile.

A primary object of the invention, therefore, is to provide in a pilefabric tufting machine looper, bills which cooperate with a plurality ofyarn ends on the same needle to simultaneously produce cut and uncutpile projections.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a tufting machine ofthe type described means for selective'ly disengaging the cut pilelooper.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a tufting machine ofthe type described means for selectively disengaging the cut pile looperand means for controlling the height of the uncut pile projections.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a cut pile 'tuftingmachine an articulated cut pile looper having means for selectivelyretaining the looper from engaging pile yarn.

A further object of the invention is to provide a double hill looper anda pile cutting element cooperating with 'one of the bills on saidlooper.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel Patented July 4,1961 method 'for simultaneously producing cut and uncut pile projectionsin the same row.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel method ofproducing controllable height uncut pile projections in the same row.

Further objects will be and drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic sectional view of a preferred form of theinvention showing simultaneously actuated but separate cut and uncutpile loopers,

FIGURE 2 is a detail showing the actuating mechanism for the .loopershafts of FIGURE 1,

FIGURES 3 and 4 show successive steps in the operation of the loopers ofFIGURE 1 when producing cut and uncut pile simultaneously,

FIGURES 5 and 6 show the operation of the loopers of FIGURES 3 and 4when producing only uncut pile,

FIGURE 7 is a perspective of the cut pile looper of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 8 ShOWs a tufting needle in which the loopers engage the yarnsfrom opposite sides of the needle,

FIGURE 9 shows a needle similar to FIGURE 8 but with loopers operatingon the same side of the needle,

FIGURE 10 is a fabric diagram taken on a longitudinal sectionillustrating the various types of pile projections which can be producedin accordance with the invention,

FIGURE 11 is a schematic diagram showing a modiiied form or dual billlooper,

FIGURES 12 and 13 are enlarged details showing successive steps in theoperation of the looper of FIGURE 11,

FIGURE 14 is a perspective of the looper of FIG- URES 11-13, and

FIGURE 15 is a sectional view of a fabric produced with the mechanism ofFIGURES 11-14.

The invention comprises essentially the provision of one or more tuftingneedles in a tufting machine for pile fabrics at least some of whichcarry two pile yarn ends simultaneously through a backing fabric whereeach yarn end is engaged by one or two loopers depending upon whether itis desired to simultaneously tuft cut and/or uncut pile projections inthe same row with each of the said yarn ends. A cut pile looper ispositioned to en gage one of the yarns carried by the needle, and in oneform of the invention, means are provided for selectively retracting thecut pile looper in accordance with a predetermined pattern when it isdesired to provide completely uncut pile in a chosen area. In addition,an uncut pile looper without a knife is positioned to engage the otherof the yarn ends carried by the needle to provide uncut pile projectionsat all times, but the uncut pile projections are controllable as toheight in accordance with a predetermined pattern. The cut and uncutpile loopers may work in opposite directions or in the same direction inaccordance with the invention.

A conventional tufting machine shown schematically in FIGURE 1 isprovided with a vertically reciprocating needle bar 20 carrying one ormore needles 21. In a broad tufting machine there may be as many as 1200of the needles carried in the same needle bar. A ground fabric F is fedover a throat plate 22 having a throat 23 where it is pierced by theneedles 21 to produce the pile projections P on one side of fabric F.The machine is provided with the customary presser foot 24, yarn guides25 and 26 for the cut pile yarn Y and the uncut or loop pile yarn ends Ywhich are drawn from a source not shown such as a creel. A conventionalpattern attachment 27 is used for supplying loop pile yarn Y suchdevices being well known in the art, examples of which may be found inUnited States Patent No. 2,782,905 and British .Patent No. 780,370.

All or a selected number of the needles 21 are provided with two eyes 28and 29 through which the loop yarn apparent from the specification endsY and the tuft yarn ends Y are threaded respectively. The eyes 28 and 29are in spaced vertical relation to each other on the needle so that theuncut yarn looper 30 engages the yarn Y carried through the needle eye28, whereas the cutting yarn looper 31 normally engages the yarn Ycarried through needle eye 29. Loopers 30 and 31 are mounted in looperbrackets 32 and 33 respectively both of which are journaled on a shaft34 under the throat 22 of the tufting machine. The loopers oscillate intimed relation with each other so that they engage the yarns Y and Y atsubstantially the same time when the needles 21 are inserted through thefabric F. The detailed operation and cooperation of the loopers with thepile yarns Y and Y will be explained more fully in connection withFIGURES 36.

Actuation of the brackets or rocket arms 32 and 33 is achieved by meansof connecting links 35 and 36 attached to the brackets 32 and 33respectively by pins 37 and 38. The opposite end of link 35 is connectedto a crank 40 clamped to shaft 41 by means of a capscrew 42. A pin 43provides pivoting connection between the link 35 and crank 40. In asimilar manner link 36 is connected to a crank 45 by means of pin 46 andthe crank 45 is clamped to shaft 47 by means of capscrew 48. It will beunderstood that we have shown and described the mechanism associatedwith a single needle 21. However, the identical apparatus is duplicatedfor as many of the needles on the tufting machine as it may be desiredto operate in accordance with the present invention. A driven shaft 50of the tufting machine is provided with a barrel cam 51 having a camtrack 52 which controls cam follower 53 attached to lever 54 (FIGURE 2).Lever 54 is keyed to shaft 47 at "55 and also actuates shaft 41 througha connecting link 56 pivotally attached to lever 57 on shaft 41 andlever 58 on shaft 47. It will thus be apparent that oscillation of lever54 simultaneous- 1y rocks shafts 41 and 47 in opposite directions sothat the oppositely engage yarns Y and Y The cutting loopers 31cooperate with oscillatable knives 60 which are mounted in the bracket61 clamped to rockshaft 62 by capscrew 63.

The mounting of the cut pile and uncut pile loopers shown in FIGURE 1insofar as the facing directions of bill 65 on looper 30 and bill 66 onlooper 31 is generally conventional since these bills face in oppositedirections, It will be understood that all pile projections in the formof loops engaged on the bill 66 of looper 31 must be cut in order topermit the fabric to progress from right to left as shown in FIGURE 1.Where, however, it is desired to omit the cut pile in selected areas, weprovide means for retracting t-he loopers 31 or any selected number ofthem so that the bill 66 will not engage any newly formed pile loops.For this purpose we utilize an articulated looper assembly shown clearlyin FIGURE 7 in which the main looper body 67 is provided with a dimpleor lancing 68 which presses against the side of a slot in looper bracket33. The upper edge of the looper body 67 is provided with two retractedlimit stops 69 and 70 and one extended stop 71. These stops permitlimited travel of the looper 67 in the looper bracket 33. An articulatedextension 75 is connected to the looper body 67 at 76 so that limited upand down pivotal move ment of the extension 75 with respect to thelooper body 67 is permitted. A lower limit stop 77 is provided onextension 75 together with an upper limit stop 78. A hearing 79 providessliding contact between the extension 75 and the bottom of a slot instationary bracket 80. The extremities of element 75 are pivotally andresiliently connected to a small solenoid 76 by means of a spring loadedlink 76a.

The solenoids 76 are in turn energized and de-energized by aconventional pattern attachment 81 inaccordance with well-knownpractice. When a solenoid 76 is energized, extension 75 is elevated asshown in broken lines in FIGURE 1 so that limit stop 78 is hooked underand in back of bracket 80. This holds the looper 67 in a retractedposition so that the oscillation of looper bracket 33 will not carrysuch a retracted looper forward to engage yarn Y carried by needle 21.The support for the looper extension 75 is shown as a bracket 82 securedto the bottom of throat plate 22 by means of bolts 83. The solenoids 76are supported from the throat plate by means of a bracket 84 and angleiron 85. The tufted fabric is carried over the section of the bed plate86 which supports the members 82-85 so that no interference with thepile projections takes place.

Referring now to FIGURES 3 and 4, when the needle or needles 21 areinserted to their maximum depth through the fabric F, the loop yarn Y oneach needle is engaged by its associated looper and the cut yarn Y isengaged by the cutting looper 31, the latter looper oscillating in anarcuate path below the path of oscillation of looper 30. When a seriesof loops of the yarn Y has been engaged on the bill 66 of looper 31, theoscillating action of knife 60 severs the farthest loop or loops toproduce cut pile in the conventional manner. FIGURE 3 shows the kniferetracted and FIGURE 4 shows the knife 60 advanced to cut thefarthermost loop to form tufts 90. During this relatively normaloperation of the loopers yarn Y may be controlled to produce any heightpile as shown in FIGURE 10. Also, the loopers 31 oscillate with theirbrackets 33 so that all of the yarn tufted through the needle eye 29' isconverted into tufts 90 of facing loopers 30 and 31 simultaneouslysubstantially the same height.

Where the pattern requires no cut pile projections, a pattern tape orother selector mechanism 81 energizes solenoid 76 to lock the extension75 behind the bracket thus holding the cuttinglooper 31 in a stationaryretracted position while the bracket 33 continues to oscillate againstthe friction of the dimple 68. As long as loops of yarn Y still remainon the bill 66 of looper 31, they will be gradually cut by knife 60 asshown in FIGURES 5 and 6 even though the looper itself fails to engagemore yarn. FIGURE 5 shows the bill 66 of looper 31 missing the firstloop on the needle 21 of yarn Y However, since yarn Y is not caught bylooper 31, it will be picked up by the bill 65 of looper 30 so that whenwe are not producing cut tufts for pile, the uncut loops, whether high,low, or intermediate, will be the same height in each row since they areboth caught by the same looper. Both effects are shown in FIGURE 10. Cuttufts are stitched in the same longitudinal row as are high loops 91,intermediate loops 92, and low loops 93. Where the cutting looper 31 forthis particular row is retracted, then we have double low loops 94, 94,double high loops 95, 95, and double intermediate loops 96, 96. Thispermits a wide range of pattern effects to be accomplished particularlyin view of the fact that the range occurs or may occur in each row ofstitches. Under certain circumstances it may be desirable to thread theneedles so that every other row, every third row, or every row iscapable of simultaneously producing cut and uncut pile or variableheight uncut pile with two loops per row.

A similar but somewhat more achieved with the use of a single looper(FIGURE 14) having an upper non-cutting bill 101 and a lower cuttingbill 102. This looper is held in oscillating looper bracket 103 which isin turn bolted to bracket 104, journaled on shaft 34, and actuated bylink 35 and pin 37. A knife 105 is adjustably mounted in a bracket 106which in turn is controlled by shaft 62 in much the same mannerillustrated and described in FIGURE 1. However, in FIGURE 11 the knife105 cooperates with the looper 100 on the opposite side of the needleand, contrary to usual practice, the cutting looper bill 102 faces inthe direction of fabric travel rather than against it.

The standard yarn feed control 27 is used to provide uncut pile in theform of loops of different controllable h ghts shown in FIGURE 15 ashigh loops 107, 107,

limited result may be intermediate loops 108, 108, and low loops 109,109. In effect, the operation and control of the height of the uncutpile supplied or made up from yarn Y is generally conventional.Simultaneously, however, cut tufts are made with the yarn Y fed throughthe lower eye 29 of needles 21. The bill 102 of looper 100 picks up oneloop at a time and the presser foot 24 assists in holding the stitchesof the cut pile ends Y from pulling'through. In addition, the tuftingmachine is so timed that the needles 21 are substantially withdrawn fromthe fabric before the cut is made. This is shown in FIGURES 12 and 13 inwhich both loopers are brought into engagement with their respectiveyarns Y and Y The bills 101 and 102 on the looper 100 remain engagedwith the loops until the needle 21 has been fully raised, whereupon theknife 10S oscillates to cut the particular pile yarn which has just beentufted. The height of the tip of needle 21 at the time the yarn Y wascut is sufficient to provide enough slack yarn between the eye 29 andthe top of fabric F to provide the next tuft without substantiallypulling back the previously cut tuft. In this way it is possible toproduce a fabric having constant height high tufts and loops in the samerow of contrasting color yarn as well as differential in height.

The invention is relatively simple and satisfactory in operation,provides a wide variety of pattern effects to be achieved, and aboveall, permits the production of cut and uncut tufted pile selectively andsimultaneously.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. Apparatus for simultaneously producing cut and uncut tufted pilefabric comprising a reciprocating needle bar, a plurality of pile yarnneedles carried in said needle bar adapted to insert two pile yarnsthrough a ground fabric, two eyes near the extremity of each of saidneedles through which the pile yarns are threaded an uncut pile looperoscillatably mounted to engage the yarn threaded through one of saideyes, a cut pile looper oscillatably mounted to engage the yarn threadedthrough the other one of said eyes in each needle, means for oscillatingsaid loopers in timed relation to reciprocation of the needles, and aknife operatively associated with the cut pile looper for severing pileyarns engaged on said cut pile looper.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which both of the looperscomprise integrally formed bills facing in the same direction andmounted on an oscillating looper rockshaft, and cutting meansoperatively positioned with respect to one of said bills to cut pileloops engaged by said bill.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which the loopers arepositioned to engage the pile yarn carried by the needle from the sameside.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which the loopers arepositioned to engage the pile yarn carried by the needle from oppositesides.

5. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 having means for oscillating theknife.

6. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which the loopers areindividually journaled on a common shaft,

and link means for oscillating each of the loopers simultaneously onsaid common shaft.

7. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 having means for retractingselected cut pile loopers from engaging the yarn carried by the needlesin accordance with a predetermined pattern.

8. App-aratus in accordance with claim 7 in which the looper disengagingmeans comprises an articulated extension connected to each looper, afriction driving connection between each looper and its associatedoscillating means, a solenoid for pivoting the articulated extensionwith respect to the looper, a latch engageable by the extension onenergization of the solenoid to retain the looper and extension in aretracted position, and a pattern selector mechanism for energizing thesolenoid in accordance with a predetermined pattern.

9. Apparatus for simultaneously producing cut and uncut tufted pilefabric comprising a reciprocating needle bar, a plurality of pile yarnneedles carried in said needle bar adapted to insert two pile yarnsthrough a ground fabric, two eyes near the extremity of each of saidneedles through which the pile yarns are threaded said eyes being inaxial spaced relation to each other on the shank of the needle, an uncutpile looper oscillatably mounted to engage the yarn threaded through oneof said eyes, a cut pile looper oscillatably mounted to simultaneouslyengage the yarn threaded through the other one of said eyes in eachneedle, means for oscillating said loopers in timed relation toreciprocation of the needles, and a knife operatively associated withthe cut pile looper for severing pile yarns engaged on said out pilelooper.

10. Apparatus in accordance with claim 9 having means for oscillatingthe knife.

11. Apparatus in accordance with claim 9 in which the loopers areindividually journaled on a common shaft, and link means for oscillatingeach of the loopers simultaneously on said common shaft.

12. Apparatus in accordance with claim 9 having means for retractingselected cut pile loopers from envgaging the yarn carried by the needlesin accordance with a predetermined pattern.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,909,530 Gladish May 16, 1933 2,782,905 Smith Feb. 26, 1957 2,796,654Ashcroft June 25, 1957 2,876,441 Boyles Mar. 3, 1959 2,879,728 McCutchenMar. 31, 1959 2,879,729 McCutchen Mar. 31, 1959 2,882,845 HoeselbarthApr. 21, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,111 Great Britain of 1891 6,792 GreatBritain of 1902 166,675 Germany Dec. 30, 1905 7,107 Great Britain Mar.25, 1907 635,817 Great Britain Apr. 17, 1950 520,373 Canada Jan. 3, 1956

